Friday, 15 June 2012

Budget 2012-13: A bleak picture for Lollywood

Following the announcement of the Federal and Punjab
budgets, thick clouds of confusion have set in amongst leading members of the
film industry. A lack of priority and importance are seen as the main hurdles
in revamping and improving the industry in the long-term.

“The budget does not resonate with the wishes and
demands of the general population,” says legendary actor Mustafa Qureshi. “Not
enough importance has been given to the film industry, which has been an
integral part of Lahore’s culture for over 100 years.”

Qureshi, like many other industry insiders, has
routinely interacted with the government in the hope of jump-starting the
staggering industry. He says that one of the biggest issues is that there is no
clarification as to whether the film industry budget is the federal government
or Punjab government’s responsibility.

While discussing the state of the industry, Qureshi
is of the opinion that in order to survive, the industry currently needs 10
good films a year. For that, the government’s support is essential. “The
message should not be that if the industry is struggling, it should die. One
shouldn’t forget that this industry has helped the government by generating
impressive revenues in the past. Hence, its success is beneficial for both
parties.”

In the background

Meanwhile, PML-N insiders explained that around Rs5
billion had been divided amongst three departments Tourism, Human Rights,
Ministry of Information, with no exact budget allocated the film industry.

PML-N’s Farah Deeba, who is also the president of
the Punjab Cultural Wing of the party, said that the government had not yet
held a meeting to discuss what steps should be taken to move ahead . According
to Deeba, the government’s reluctance to extend all out support to film-makers
arises from the issue that most directors foray into vulgarity and obscenity.
That said, Deeba affirms that the goal will always be to provide good and
positive entertainment for the public. She also added that the censor board
will be honest and cater to progressive film-making.

Not falling in
the trap

Senior film-makers and veterans,however, are not
buying it. Actor Ghulam Mohiuddin, who rarely goes to his once regular hang-out
spot in Evernew Studio in the fear that he will run into many old technicians
and cameramen who are now unemployed, says the decision to allocate funds to
government-owned institutions like Pakistan National Council of the Arts
(PNCA), had only catered to a small elite crowd. He is of the opinion that
entertainment which caters to the general public is not addressed in the
budget.

Apart from that, Mohiuddin points out the
bureaucratic nature of the Censor Board, calling for an immediate change in
film censoring practices. “It is unfortunate that the producer or director
spends so much money on making a film but he’s not allowed to sit with the
censor board and explain the significance of certain scenes in a film.”

What can be
done?

Meanwhile, film director and producer Javed Raza is
one of many people from the industry who have concrete proposals which would
help make producing the films affordable. The crux of the issue, he says, is
that there are no cinemas to adequately sustain the cost of making a film. “The
thing I have been pitching for is: in every major city, the government, in a
revenue sharing partnership with the industry, should open one cinema with five
screens. I guarantee that both sides will be happy in terms of finances,” says
Raza who believes that if this plan is implemented the government could recover
the cost putting up the cinemas within two years.